


Shut Up and Read the Damn Line Already

by Lenasaurous



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: And I don't know how film sets work, But there was no way I was writing it all out, Fluff, I couldn't find anything relevant, I tried doing research I swear, It's all based off behind the scenes stuff I've seen, M/M, Mentions of other characters - Freeform, Movie AU, They're there purely because the AU got really huge in my mind
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-02
Updated: 2018-06-05
Packaged: 2019-05-17 06:46:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14827383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lenasaurous/pseuds/Lenasaurous
Summary: “You aren’t going to fucking believe this,” Kaito announced loudly, slamming the door to Shuichi’s study open, startling him away from his computer screen.“Wha…?” he began, turning around to face his utterly gobsmacked friend. “What’s wrong?”Kaito stared at Shuichi for a moment, seemingly trying to collect himself before shuffling and crossing his arms. “He said yes.”Shuichi furrowed his brow. “Who?”“Ouma,” Kaito clarified. “I just got off the phone with Chiaki. She said he’s agreed to take the part.”





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who's still bad at writing summaries! (And forgot to actually put one in (o_O))

Kaito was staring exasperatedly at the screenplay splayed over the marble countertop. He’d read through it a number of times and, while it had only taken one reading to appreciate it for the work of genius that he’d never doubted it would be, it had taken three to realise that something was up with the script.

The door to the kitchen opened with a quiet creek.

“Oi, Shuichi,” he called to his friend who’d just walked in. “About this script…”

“Oh! Yeah, I meant to say, there was a couple of changes I was thinking about making to the final act. I thought we should probably talk it over toge-”

“Nah, nah, that’s not it, mate,” Kaito interrupted him, leaning his cheek into his palm and watching as Shuichi went about making a cup of coffee. “While I do agree that that would be a good idea, that isn’t quite what I wanted to talk about.”

Shuichi leant against the counter and looked curiously over to where Kaito was sat at the breakfast bar, papers stacked haphazardly around him. “Alright, then what?”

Kaito stared at him for a few moments before sighing and picking up a piece of paper. “I know we’re pretty high profile, but I wasn’t really expecting to cast such a famous actor in this thing.”

“Eh?” Shuichi blinked dumbly. “I wasn’t either.”

“Dude, no,” Kaito snorted, shaking his head, letting the sheet gently float back down to the table top. “You aren’t getting this one past me, it’s too obvious.”

“What’s obvious?”

Kaito rolled his eyes. “There are about three people in Hollywood who can boast an acting range as diverse as the one needed to pull the lead role off, and only one of those people is a man.”

“ _No!_ No, don’t be silly. I didn’t write the role for Kokichi Ouma.”

“You may as well have!” Kaito ran his hands through his hair and looked back down at the papers. “I mean, we may as well try, I’ll ask the casting crew to call his people, but,” he paused purposefully, getting to his feet and walking to the fridge, pulling it open before pointedly meeting Shuichi’s eyes, “he is a notoriously picky and expensive little shit. And I’m not going to push for it just because you have a crush on the guy.”

Shuichi’s face blossomed bright red and his expression snapped to indignant. “K-Kaito!”

“Seriously,” Kaito pressed, pulling a Pepsi from the door. “I’m convinced this is a pipe dream, but we can give it a shot.”

“I didn’t do that though!” But his protests fell on deaf ears as Kaito shut the fridge and left the kitchen, good naturedly rolling his eyes again and smiling wryly as he kicked the door shut behind him.

 

* * *

 

“You aren’t going to fucking believe this,” Kaito announced loudly, slamming the door to Shuichi’s study open, startling him away from his computer screen.

“Wha…?” he began, turning around to face his utterly gobsmacked friend. “What’s wrong?”

Kaito stared at Shuichi for a moment, seemingly trying to collect himself before shuffling and crossing his arms. “He said yes.”

Shuichi furrowed his brow. “Who?”

“Ouma,” Kaito clarified. “I just got off the phone with Chiaki. She said he’s agreed to take the part.”

The flood of excitement, confusion and panic that suddenly wracked through Shuichi left him blank. “What?”

“He’s taking the part. At the offered payment. _The offered payment!_ I mean it was nothing to sniff at, but I at least expected them to _try_ raising it. I mean it’s _Kokichi Ouma_. He’s an _A-list_ actor.” He started pacing and nervously rubbing at his neck, nails noisily scratching against the growing stubble in need of a shave. “Dear _fuck_ he must have liked that script.” He looked down at Shuichi, who was still dumbly sat with his jaw hanging. “Either you are a literary genius, or we are lucky bastards.”

Shuichi shook out of it for a moment to become sheepish. “Well I wouldn’t say… we’ve been doing this a while; your name’s pretty high profile right now. It could just be that.”

“Whatever the hell it was, all I can say is… we’d better make this a good one.”

 

* * *

 

Kokichi Ouma had turned out to be a… difficult person to work with. Especially for Kaito.

The rumours about him had been proven true the first day of filming. He was an annoying, self-entitled person who believed he always knew how a scene would be best played out, no matter the director’s vision. And that didn’t settle well with Kaito _at all_.

If Kaito wanted him to do something, Kokichi would always contest it. He’d say that it would look better his way, and never shied away from giving details on what angle the shot should be taken from, the kind of lighting they should have, if the scene would work better with a different set. He’d complain about the costumes and the way he was told to deliver his lines.

If Kaito wanted something one way, Kokichi had to have it another.

Kaito collapsed into his chair and rubbed his temples, letting out a guttural growl. “Why the hell did I ever agree to this?”

“Because you didn’t know it would be an exercise in patience when you asked Chiaki to call his agent,” Shuichi replied, smiling sympathetically and passing him a green water bottle.

“Thanks,” Kaito muttered before chugging the water, sighing and wiping his mouth as he lowered it from his lips. “I wouldn’t have ever even considered it had I known. How did you let me do this?”

Shuichi chuckled and slipped his hands into his pockets. “I didn’t know either.”

“This all your fault,” Kaito grumbled, glaring up at Shuichi. “I’m too nice to you, this is your fault.”

“I told you, I _didn’t_ write the role for him.”

“He’s the only person who could ever pull it off.”

Shrugging, Shuichi dropped into the seat next to Kaito. “So…” he started narrowing his gaze confusedly. “Are you happy with his performance then?”

“Well _yeah_ ,” Kaito said, as if he hadn’t just been complaining about the guy. “He’s Kokichi Ouma. His acting is _flawless_ , I just wish he’d do what I asked him to.” He looked down at the water bottle before placing it on the floor. “Why is it only me though?”

“Eh?” Shuichi leant back in his seat, still eyeing Kaito weirdly. “I heard he does this with most of the directors he works with?”

Kaito shook his head, scowling. “Not what I meant.” He glared over at where Kokichi was stood, talking to one of the other actors, gesturing at the script in his hand. “He’s not _once_ protested to saying any line given to him.”

“H-hasn’t he?”

“Nope,” Kaito affirmed, voice rising an octave in exasperation. “Nope, only my directing. Y’know what’s worse?” he asked, side-eyeing Shuichi. “I was talking to Kyoko last week, she’s worked with him before, and she said that every other complaint was about his lines. Said he insisted on improvising most of ‘em. I mean, it was insane work, like _really_ good, but apparently it was positively infuriating. And yet, _I_ haven’t heard a _peep_ about the script. He just says the lines, no problem.”

“Y-yeah?” Shuichi said, feeling heat rising to his cheeks.

“Not a word…” Kaito glared at the other some more before sitting up from his slouch and picking up the script. “Since he seems to like your work so much, would you mind trying to bargain with him on the next scene?”

Shuichi blinked owlishly at Kaito. “You… you want me to what?”

“Bargain with him. You already know what I want for the current scene, I mean we spent three hours going over it last night, so _you_ can go and talk to him about it before we resume filming. I just think that he may be a little less… uncooperative if he’d already agreed to something.”

Shuichi continued to stare at him blankly. “You want me to what?!”

Kaito rolled his eyes. “I want you to get over your celebrity crush and do me a favour. If you tell him you’re the screen writer I’m almost certain he’ll respect you. He respects your _work_ at least, that’s obvious.”

“But Kaito, I can’t do that. I’m… I’m just the screenwriter. _You’re_ the director. I can’t _do that_.”

“You’re not ‘just the screenwriter’, Shuichi,” Kaito insisted, a desperate glint now shining in his eyes. “This film is our _baby_. We came up with this thing together. It is your vision as much as it is mine, so take goddamned responsibility for our child before I sue you for neglect.”

A strangled whine quietly whistled through Shuichi’s throat, stuck between the corner of guilt Kaito had backed him into and the dread that accompanied the idea of talking to his favourite actor.

“ _Please_ ,” Kaito begged, dropping the script to the floor and violently grabbing Shuichi’s hands. “ _Please_ , I’m gonna snap if this continues. I can’t lose this, _we_ can’t lose this. This is _Kokichi Ouma_ acting in _our_ film. Shuichi, this is the kind of thing we’ve been dreaming about since middle school. Do this for _us_!”

Shuichi held Kaito’s gaze for an uncomfortable ten seconds before sighing and giving in. “Alright, fine, I’ll do it.”

It seemed to take Kaito a lot of effort not to burst into grateful tears. “ _Yes_. Thank you, Shuichi, _thank you_. Holy cow, you’re the best friend I could ever ask for.”

“Okay, okay, just… just let me go do this.” He pulled his hands out of Kaito’s grip and stared at them solemnly before standing up. “And if it ends in disaster, remember that this is all your fault.”

As the feeling slowly drained from his toes and fingers, he made his way over to where Kokichi was stood alone, the actress he’d been talking with having walked off. Shuichi could feel nerves eating at him as he got closer, still definitely not prepared. However, if Shuichi had learned anything about himself, it was that he could force himself to do the impossible if someone else’s problem was on the line. Especially if it was Kaito’s.

“Um… hello?” he said quietly, trying to get the other’s attention while simultaneously hoping that if he was quiet enough he wouldn’t be heard and could just walk away.

Unfortunately, he’d been just loud enough and Kokichi turned around to look at him. At first, he’d looked rather indifferent, if a little annoyed about being disturbed, but that slight annoyance very quickly morphed into mild interest. “Yeah?”

Shuichi stuttered for a moment, words catching in his throat before he eventually managed to squeeze them out. “I-I’m, um… I’m the head screenwriter. I was hoping I could… if I could maybe talk about the scene… with you. The one we’re filming now.”

At that the mild interest jumped to fully engaged as the other’s face lit up. “Oh, yeah, alright. What’s up?”

Shuichi was rather taken aback but gulped and continued doing as asked.

He was surprised by just how receptive Kokichi was throughout the entire conversation. The other was nodding along and actively engaging with Shuichi’s remarks about his and Kaito’s ideas for the scene, giving his own opinions and being quite happy to compromise, openly stating that, while it wasn’t what he’d do, what Shuichi was suggesting was of equal quality.  

He walked away from the conversation feeling both satisfied and positively elated, having held an extensive conversation with one of the people he admired most in the world. Kaito looked hopeful as he returned and was downright ecstatic throughout the rest of filming, Kokichi doing as he asked, as per his and Shuichi’s prior discussion.

“That was incredible,” Kaito exclaimed as he dropped lightly into the passenger seat of their car at the end of the day, kicking his bag into the footwell. “ _That_ is what filming is meant to be, yeah!?”

Shuichi nodded, climbing in behind the wheel. “It certainly was a lot easier.”

“It all came out _exactly_ as I wanted it to! Do you think it’s gonna be as good tomorrow?”

“I sure hope so,” Shuichi said, igniting the engine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who's writing instead of revising again!  
> This thing feels super lazy to me, but I loved the idea so I just kind of slapped the keyboard a bit and this came out. Take it as you will, but I honestly feel it's lesser quality than the other stuff I've written. After June I might be able to get something that's good quality (exams over) but until then I'll put out this drivel. (That's also why this probably sounds more British than usual despite taking place in America ┐(￣ヘ￣)┌)  
> As usual I'm hoping to post each update within a day of each other, but I'm a little unhappy with the ending so I'll probably change it a bit, but I don't know if that will cause a delay or anything.  
> Regardless, I hope you enjoyed reading!


	2. Chapter 2

Unfortunately, nothing was quite that easy.

Shuichi wasn’t always that involved with the filming process of his and Kaito’s films, it had been that way since they were making amateur movies in high school with their classmates. Shuichi would write the script and hand it off to Kaito. Kaito would film it and they’d work on the editing together. Now that they were working with film professionally, while Kaito was filming with the production crew, Shuichi would do his own work, developing their other ideas and meeting with other members of his writing team or taking up contract work.

So, as it happened, that same day Kaito managed to somewhat fix his problem with Kokichi, Shuichi had arranged to fly to the other side of the country to meet with one of their writing staff and didn’t return for two weeks. Upon returning he found out that no, it hadn’t been as good the next day. Nor any of the days after that until Shuichi returned.

Kaito had certainly _looked_ to be at the end of his tether, collapsed on their couch, what appeared to be his third can of beer tight in his grasp, with cartoon reruns playing quietly in the background.

Dropping his bags by the door, Shuichi hurried over to Kaito. “What on earth are you doing?”

The other groaned. “He’s driving me to alcoholism.”

“You’re kidding me.” Shuichi stared down at his pathetic friend and shook his head in disbelief. “It can’t be that bad.”

“He won’t do anything,” Kaito whined. “I don’t get it. We at least managed to get shit actually _filmed_ before. We shot one usable scene in _two weeks_ , and even then, I’d prefer to re-do it. He just… I swear he’s doing it on purpose. If this keeps up I’m just gonna have to fire him, I can’t _do_ this.”

Shuichi frowned and sat on the floor next to the sofa, swiping empty cans out of the way. “Then maybe you should. What he’d doing is unprofessional and it probably isn’t worth it. We can postpone filming and make adjustments to the script. We can still deal with something like that at this point.”

However, Kaito shook his head and grimaced. “But that would be such a waste. I hate this, but this film… it’s going to be the best thing we’ve ever done.” He set his beer on the floor and covered his face with his arm. “I don’t want to sacrifice that…” he moved his arm slightly and looked down to Shuichi. “Maybe…” he began, drawing his eyebrows together in a guilty grimace. “Maybe you could talk to him again? He listened to you.”

“Kaito, I have work too,” Shuichi protested. “I can’t hang about the set for the next however many months. I’m going away again in April.”

“Yeah, but you can at least be around for the time being.” Kaito got up and sat on his knees. “ _Please,_ just for a little bit. I need you to do this, _please._ ”

Shuichi rolled his eyes and sighed. “I guess I’ll try… But my work takes precedence, alright?”

Kaito nodded violently, face splitting into a relieved smile. “Thank fuck. I don’t know what I would have done if you’d said no.”

So, as agreed, early the next day Shuichi accompanied Kaito to the film set again. While he was quite used to being on film sets, he didn’t often accompany Kaito to work. Being simultaneously a huge fan of film and a socially awkward, nervous wreck, he’d get really nervous around any big-name actors. This problem increased ten-fold once the production studio they worked for started giving them larger and larger budgets, and their casting crew managed to sucker more into working for them.

This had pretty much reached its peak when they’d managed to hire Kokichi Ouma onto their film. He’d considered it a miracle that, when he’d had to speak with the other before, he hadn’t frozen up. Then again, it was for Kaito’s sake, as it was again that day.

Waiting for the other members of the crew to show up though, Shuichi found himself sat dead still in nervous silence. If he was one to bite his nails, he likely would have bitten down to the cuticle by then. Kaito kept nattering on to him aggravatedly, complaints mixed in with profuse thanks, but Shuichi just let it filter through one ear and out the other until he walked off without him noticing. Shuichi continued to sit in silence, his nerves eating at him, mind running entirely blank.

“Hey! You’re back!”

Shuichi yelped and shot out of his seat, jumping a good few feet away. Behind his chair he saw Kokichi watching him amusedly. “Someone’s jumpy.”

Panting and clutching at his chest, Shuichi couldn’t help but scream internally that he wasn’t ready for this yet. For the sake of polite manners though, he instantly began scrambling for words. “G-good… good morning,” he stuttered eloquently, putting up some semblance of a pleasantry. “I didn’t… um…”

“Oh, I know you didn’t hear me approach,” Kokichi interrupted, ginning cheekily. “I’ll leave you in the dark as to how I could ever be so omnipotent though.” He strolled around the chair and walked up to stand directly in front of Shuichi, making the other extremely uncomfortable. With the other at so close a proximity, there was a much greater chance of him doing something completely idiotic and fucking everything up.

Shuichi gulped and smiled sheepishly, turning to look away. “Sorry. You just made me jump.”

“Quite literally,” Kokichi agreed, giggling. “You were gone quite a while. From how we spoke before I assumed you were quite involved with the filming.”

“Huh? Ah, I was in New York. Just… work. And err… no, I’m not.” He punctuated his point by shaking his head, still refusing to meet the other’s gaze, knowing that if he did, he’d stumble. He couldn’t ruin it so early on, he still had something to do.

“Aww, that’s a shame,” Kokichi moaned, leaning over in an attempt to force Shuichi to look at him. “I was hoping I’d get to talk to you more.”

Shuichi fought tooth and nail to keep the blush down at those words. “Y-yeah?”

Kokichi chuckled peppily. “No not really, that was a lie. The script was kind of clumsy if you ask me,” he said, voice dropping into an uninterested monotone, inspecting his fingernails. “I kind of regret accepting the role, but I’m here now. So, what can you do?”

That certainly managed to make Shuichi look down at him. Hurt and confused, he took in the information that seemed to conflict with what he’d come to understand. “Then why are you here? It would make everyone’s lives easier if you _did_ quit.”

Kokichi was taken aback at Shuichi’s sharp words and his brow shot up into his hairline. “Geeze, I wasn’t being serious. It was a lie, calm down,” he chuckled awkwardly, and took a step back.

A stone dropped into Shuichi’s stomach. “Oh…” he breathed. “I’m… um…”

“Nah, it’s okay. I can be annoying,” Kokichi admitted, crossing his arms and sighing. “But I really _didn’t_ mean it.” He perked up again and hopped back into Shuichi’s personal space. “Do you wanna know a secret?”

“Is it going to be true?” Shuichi asked, cautiously.

“Yup yup,” Kokichi assured him, grinning. “I swear it on my sister’s life!”

Shuichi furrowed his brow. “But… you don’t have a sister?” He regretted saying it immediately, knowing that he probably sounded like some kind of stalker.

Fortunately, Kokichi didn’t seem to care much, just giggling again. “Aww, you caught me! Fine, I swear it on my brother’s life. Heck, both of their lives.”

“A-alright.”

He leaned in much to close for Shuichi’s comfort and whispered into his ear. “Your screenplay is probably the best thing I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading in my entire life.”

This time, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t fight the burning blush down from his face, instead letting his fringe cover his eyes as Kokichi pulled away. “I-is that right?”

“ _Yes_ ,” Kokichi insisted, sounding mildly offended, although Shuichi really didn’t know whether to trust that or not. “I swore on my brothers’ lives, didn’t I?” He shrugged and let it go pretty quickly though. “I wouldn’t ever stoop to accepting working with a script I didn’t like, anyway. Take it as you will I suppose; most people don’t trust anything that comes out of my mouth. It’s positively hilarious how many interviewers I’ve upset.”

Shuichi wasn’t really listening to what Kokichi was saying though, still revelling in the idea that the one person he’d admired since he was still a student could actually praise something he’d written, let alone think it was… what he’d said.

Kokichi tutted then and pouted. “Urgh, I think make-up’s looking for me,” he grumbled. “I’ve gotta go.”

“N-no!” Shuichi said a little louder than he’d intended, not wanting Kokichi to go before he’d managed to do as he’d promised Kaito he would.

“My, do you want me around _that_ much?” Kokichi exclaimed, a broad smile plastered across his face. “I’m honoured, but I really do have to go.”

Shuichi shook his and head and started looking around for a script. “No, I actually need to talk to you about the script.” He found one on a nearby table and snatched it up. “You’re filming scene nine today, right? I was hoping we could discuss it a bit. Y’know, like last time.”

The other looked quite pleased about that and nodded enthusiastically. “If that’s the case, we could always talk while I’m having make-up done. It’s usually quite fun, but I could have you in anyway. We might not get too much said but we can try.”

“Well that just sounds like a waste of time.”

He chuckled. “Lying, again. It’s actually pretty boring.” Kokichi suddenly grabbed Shuichi’s hand and dragged him towards where the costume trailers were parked outside. “Come on, I’m sure you’ll make the morning far more entertaining!”

 

* * *

 As it had been previously, having discussed the scenes with Kokichi beforehand, the subsequent filming was near effortless. Kokichi did just about anything asked of him, provided it had been covered in their earlier conversation. Throughout the whole day Shuichi was worried Kaito would burst into tears of sheer joy.

Kaito then managed to get Shuichi on set the next day, and the next and the one after that. It seemed that Kaito was right: Kokichi would do anything if Shuichi had been the one to propose it.

This was further proved when, at one point during a scene, Kaito had asked Kokichi to do something, only to be talked back to. Shuichi, who was now sat next to Kaito during the whole filming process, had intervened and, almost like magic, Kokichi did exactly what he’d asked, which had been exactly what Kaito had wanted.

“Are you actually kidding me?” Kaito had asked no one in particular after they’d broken for food after that scene. “Do you think he’s just trying to fuck with me? What difference is there when you ask?”

“Who knows,” Shuichi had replied, a little amused by the situation, despite it being rather irritating.

“I bet he’s hot for you or something,” Kaito claimed, sending Shuichi into flustered sputtering. “I mean, what’s the difference between you and literally every other person in Hollywood y’know? He _is_ one of the most openly gay people in the business, it’s possible.”

Shuichi refused to believe _that_ , but it was certainly undeniable that Kokichi did just about anything Shuichi asked of him, regardless of motives. At the very least though, as long as Shuichi was on set, the filming process sped up considerably, which made _everyone_ happy.

In general, Shuichi’s life for the following couple of months were filled with very little other than Kokichi. Every morning he was filming they’d meet for a morning briefing and he’d then watch him work, giving him directions that he’d receive from Kaito. The day would also usually be interspliced with regular conversations over lunch and other breaks. Even times in which Shuichi had to go away for his own work were peppered with regular phone calls from wherever they were in the country asking Shuichi to mediate.

It was a rather dreamlike experience for Shuichi, having such propinquity with a person he’d been admiring for so many years. And Kaito certainly hadn’t been wrong in calling Kokichi his celebrity crush, he’d never been that ashamed to admit that, yes, he definitely found him attractive; possibly even more so now that he actually knew him. And he’d definitely be lying if he said he wasn’t ecstatic that he was receiving so much attention.

It all ended up culminating one evening when Kaito again stomped into their house and made a beeline for Shuichi’s study, once again slamming the door open. “I was right! I was right on the fucking money!”

Shuichi sighed and spun around in his desk chair. “About what, Kaito?”

“He likes you!”

“Err…?”

“Kokichi! He likes you!”

Shuichi snorted softly. “I mean, it would be weird to dislike someone you call a friend.”

“No! No, not like _that_. He _likes_ you, likes you. He’s interested in you. That’s why he does whatever you tell him to!”

Shaking his head in exasperated fatigue, Shuichi turned back to his computer. “No, Kaito. He just respects my writing, he’s told me himself. You’re jumping to conclusions, again.”

But Kaito grabbed the chair and spun Shuichi back around to face him, holding onto the armrests with a white knuckled grip, eyes holding an earnest seriousness. “Shuichi, you don’t understand,” he stressed, pushing his face right into Shuichi’s. “He just asked me which way you swing. He’s _interested_. In all seriousness, that guy _likes_ you!”

That was indisputable evidence in Kaito’s favour. If he’d just been curious, it would have made much more sense for Kokichi to ask him instead of Kaito, who he seemed to avoid talking to if he could help it. Still though, that wasn’t something Shuichi could just accept so easily. Could he?

“Well, what did you tell him?!”

Kaito instantly looked rather sheepish and let go of the chair, standing up and scratching at the back of his neck. “I may have… panicked and run away.”

Shuichi looked up at his friend, unsurprised but still dumbstruck. “Oh, _Kaito!”_

“I’m sorry! I panicked! I didn’t mean to! But what would you have done in my situation?”

It was kind of hard to deny that he wouldn’t have done exactly the same thing, but that didn’t stop the disappointment from washing over him. He let his head drop into his hands and raked them through his hair.

“Are you _sure_ you didn’t misunderstand?”

“ _Yes!_ ” Kaito yelled, pushing away and pacing. “There was no way I _could_ misunderstand, it was obvious! You would have thought someone so good at acting would be able to hide his intentions a little better.”

Shuichi sat up and took a deep breath, shaking his head clear. “Well I only have one choice,” he announced, making Kaito halt his pacing to look at him expectantly. “I just need to carry on as if nothing happened. I know nothing, you told me nothing, everything is normal.” He waved his hands in a cross motion to punctuate his point. After nodding to himself, he turned back around and stared at the word document on his computer screen. “And if you’re going to make dinner, I wouldn’t pass on something with rice.”

“You can’t just do that,” Kaito protested, crossing his arms. “It’s unhealthy to ignore problems.”

“It won’t _be_ a problem after you finish filming, now, will it?” he reasoned, picking up his writing notes. “I won’t be able to focus on this thing with you here. So,” he looked over his shoulder, “I really wouldn’t mind paella.”

Kaito huffed and rolled his eyes. “Whatever, but don’t expect me not to interfere if it gets out of hand.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm glad you guys liked this so far! And I hope this chapter continued to meet expectations.  
> Just so you know, this thing, despite being short, is supposed to take place over a really long period of time. Apparently films can take anywhere from three weeks to a few years to get filmed depending on the budget, star status of the cast, the director etc; and that's not including pre and post production work. I thought the filming period here probably takes place over about four, maybe five months? Maybe a little longer? So yeah, proof that I did do /some/ research.  
> Anyway, thanks for reading! And I will try really REALLY hard to get the last chapter out tomorrow. So, fingers crossed!


	3. Chapter 3

The next day, Shuichi went in exhausted. Even after Kaito had left, he hadn’t been able to focus regardless. After dinner he’d tried to get back to writing, but the idea that Kokichi might like him that way… he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it. He’d packed it up pretty quick, realising he wouldn’t get anything further done. But then he’d proceeded to lie awake in bed half the night until he couldn’t keep his eyes open anymore and passed out.

Kaito had given him the stink eye when he’d woken up late, and they’d turned out the last to arrive.

“God, Shuichi, you’re always, like, super early!” Kokichi whined when Shuichi finally knocked on the door to his trailer. “I-I was so, so, so worried. Why… why d-didn’t you call? I didn’t know if, if you were sick, or hurt or… or…” He burst into tears, wailing at the top of his lungs.

Shuichi sighed and looked away, fighting the blush down from his face. He was used to Kokichi’s theatrics. The first time the other had pulled that particular stunt on him he’d freaked out, but since then he knew that reacting was the worst thing he could do. “I couldn’t have called you,” he pointed out in a small voice. “I can’t contact you off set.”

Kokichi let the crocodile tears dry up instantly and shrugged, rubbing the salty residue from his eyes. “Yeah, I guess… but I was _kinda_ worried you wouldn’t show. I really can’t stand Kaito unless you’re here. You won’t believe it, but I asked him a question yesterday and he just flat out _ran away_! What sort of person _does_ that?”

Shuichi tensed up. Now he was finding it even harder to convince himself what Kaito said wasn’t true, he was hearing proof of it from the man himself.

“Tch, I’m gonna hafta go confront him about it later,” he muttered, turning to walk back into the trailer, motioning for Shuichi to follow him inside. “How the shit is he a prestigious director?” He shook his head and turned back to face Shuichi. “How are _you_ friends with a guy like _that_? I just don’t get it! Surely, you’d rather be in more intelligent company. Y’know, like yours truly.”

“He’s smarter than you give him credit for,” Shuichi mumbled, sitting down. “He wanted to be a rocket scientist for a while. Could have been, if he hadn’t become a director.”

Kokichi chuckled, shaking his head. “Lying’s my schtick Shuichi,” he scolded, wagging his finger very deliberately. “Don’t go about making your friends look better, it’s not an attractive quality.”

“I’m not making my friends look better.” Shuichi sat in on himself, unable to force himself to stop thinking about it. What if it was right? What then? Could they even ever be something? A-list actors can’t just up and decide they’re gonna start dating random no-name screenwriters. Could they?

“What, you into him or something?” Kokichi asked in what was a curious but almost bitter tone, grabbing a bottle of water off of a vanity.

Shuichi started, looking up, bemused. “What? No!” he yelped. “I’m not into Kaito. I’ve known him _way_ too long.” He shook his head and scoffed softly. “He’s engaged anyway. To my other best friend. Where on earth did you get that idea?”

The other shrugged and leant against the desk. “Just curious.” He smiled mirthlessly at the water for a moment before taking a large swig from the bottle. When it fell from his lips his usual cheery smile was back in place. “Anywho, shall we start the briefing?”

 

* * *

 The rest of the day passed in relative normalcy. The regular routine. The main difference though, was that Shuichi didn’t get to talk to Kokichi outside of the filming process. Where the other would usually seek him out as soon as they broke between shots, Shuichi didn’t see him at all. It left a strange empty feeling in him. While it was nice that he didn’t have to face the source of his current turmoil, he didn’t really like the sudden change either.

Kaito tried to assure him that it wasn’t anything important, Kokichi was a big-name actor on a movie set, he was probably busy. Most people were busy on set at all times, it wasn’t such an outlandish idea. However, Shuichi didn’t see him just hanging around either, like he had before the whole routine had started.

By the time the end of the day rolled around, Shuichi had come to a decision. Because, while he was one to allow problems to fester, he wasn’t one to allow other people to make out of the blue choices and get away with it.

He was going to trust Kaito, along with the other evidence he’d picked up on since being told, and before everyone left for the day, he’d do his best to corner Kokichi. He knew that trapping so powerful a person was likely a bad idea, but at that point, that wasn’t his primary concern. So, when Kaito called for them to wrap for the day, Shuichi found a rare burst of confidence and strode purposefully towards the other before he could escape off set.

“Hmm?” Kokichi turned around when he noticed Shuichi had approached and raised an eyebrow at him, expectantly. “You need something?”

“Why are you being standoffish?” he asked, straight to the point. “You’ve been avoiding me today. Why?”

Kokichi sighed and shook his head, a sour smile rising to his lips. “I haven’t been avoiding you. I’m a busy person.”

“You haven’t been for the last couple of months,” he pointed out. “Was it something I said?”

“I _haven’t_ been avoiding you,” he insisted, rolling his eyes. “The world doesn’t revolve around you, Shuichi. I can just be places I’m not usually.”

Shuichi took a deep breath and slowly let it out, eye contact never wavering, scraping together the last dregs of the courage he’d used up walking over there. He shoved his hand into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. “If that’s the case…” he started, courage not quite reaching his voice, “then you won’t mind if I give you this.” Then, he took Kokichi’s hand and forced the piece of paper into it. “D-don’t feel like you have to do anything with it, just… Kaito told me what you asked him about yesterday.”

“H-huh?” Kokichi squeaked, eyes blowing wide and a little panicked. He quickly opened up the scrap of paper and stared at it in disbelief. “ _Huh_?!”

“Again, you don’t… you don’t have to call or anything.”

“Are you kidding me? _Of course,_ I’m going to call.” After realising just what he’d said, Kokichi’s face blossomed red and he started scrambling for words. “Um… I err, I mean…” he sighed and looked down at the number. “What I mean is… If you do want to go out sometime, I’d like that too.”

Shuichi nodded and hummed quietly in agreement.

Before they could do anything else though, Kaito’s voice came shouting across the hall. “Shuichi? You still in here?!”

Kokichi rolled his eyes and laughed quietly. “Your boyfriend wants you,” he remarked, smirking.

“He’s not…” Shuichi started before giving up and shaking his head. “Trust me, I’m interested in someone else.” He began walking off before Kokichi could see how red his ears were and start teasing him.

“I’ll call you!” he trilled at Shuichi’s back, sounding ridiculously pleased with himself.

Shuichi ignored him but smiled privately as he went to find Kaito.

 

* * *

 “Wait so you were being difficult on purpose?” Tsumugi, the host of one of the biggest talk shows on air, asked Kokichi incredulously, leaning over her desk. “But _why?_ ”

Kokichi himself, sat across from her, nodded, smiling smugly. “Well two reasons really. One, because I don’t like Kaito and I thought it would be funny. I can assure you that I was more than right.”

The audience laughed, whether out of amusement or because of instruction Shuichi wasn’t very sure, he couldn’t see what was going on from backstage.

“Second, well, that was because I knew that if I was annoying enough I’d get to talk with his drop dead gorgeous genius of a best friend some more.”

Numerous people in the studio audience started wolf whistling, but Shuichi just sunk back further in to the rock-hard couch, ignoring how embarrassed he was in favour of watching Kokichi on the screen, happily lapping up the attention, his best showbusiness smile plastered across his face.

They’d wrapped up filming a good couple of months prior. Shuichi and Kaito had been neck deep in editing work ever since, toiling day and night to get the film ready as soon as possible. The trailers would be dropping the following week and the stars of their film had been booking interviews to speak as far as they were permitted to. But Kokichi was having a little too much fun talking about what had been happening behind the scenes rather than the film itself, and apparently everyone else, except from Shuichi, wanted him to continue.

The show only took a half hour for them to film, but it felt a more like an eternity for Shuichi, who was just wishing that they’d stop talking about him the whole time.

“What, did I say a bit too much?” Kokichi asked when he walked backstage to find Shuichi sat stiffly, face glowing pink and planted in his hands.

Shuichi shook his head. “I agreed to it,” he mumbled. “It’s fine.”

Kokichi draped his arms around Shuichi’s shoulders from behind, pushing his cheek against Shuichi’s to get his attention. “You’re really cute when you’re flustered.”

“Oh shush,” Shuichi exclaimed, dropping his hands to his lap and turning to look at him. “And stop rubbing your make up all over my face.”

Pouting, Kokichi pushed himself back up and moved to lean against the arm of the couch. “W-what are you saying!” he whined, voice wobbling. “You have no right to judge me! You’re supposed to love me no matter what I look like! It’s meant to be uncondi-” but he was cut off in his tearful rant as Shuichi leant up to kiss him, swallowing all complaints and effectively shutting him up.

When Shuichi slowly pulled away he smiled exasperatedly, bumping their noses together and lifting his hand to fiddle with the hair at the base of Kokichi’s neck. “You’re beautiful no matter what you do to your face, but really,” he paused to swipe his free hand across Kokichi’s cheek and hold up his fingers painted with a layer of foundation, “that make up crew really went to town on you.”

Kokichi giggled and shrugged. “Yeah, I suppose.” Then, after quickly stealing another kiss, he pushed himself away and made his way over to the dressing room. He hung on the doorframe for a moment, smiling innocently, with a genuine joy devoid of all the fake pleasantries he used in front of the cameras. “You gonna wait here?”

“ _Yes,_ now go get cleaned up.”

Shuichi watched after him, grinning lopsidedly. He could probably deal with any form of embarrassment if it meant that would be waiting for him. Well, within reason.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote that last bit out one way and then deleted the whole thing because I can't write endings. It's hard enough finishing off a chapter, let alone the whole thing. Plus like, some of it feels kinda forced ┐(￣ヘ￣)┌  
> I'm sorry this chapter did turn out to be a little late. It's like three AM as I'm writing this so I expect there to be some issues with the last bit.  
> Regardless, I've loved hearing you guys' comments (knowing that you guys like reading my stuff is really what makes writing worth it o(≧▽≦)o) and I'm just happy that you guys are happy!  
> Anyway, finally, I shall thank you guys for reading this! Love you all!


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